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Not a bad week for PSA’s boys’ Prep basketball team. Not a bad week at all.
Coming off a loss two Sundays ago, the Mustangs looked at the schedule ahead with a weary eye. They saw a Wednesday game against the national team from Our Savior Lutheran (whose prep team had already beaten PSA) followed by a Sunday game against Cushing Academy, ranked No. 2 in the country and holding a victory over No. 1.
But when the Mustangs rolled back onto campus early Sunday evening, they had with them back-to-back wins – 94-82 over OSL and 94-79 over Cushing – and a newfound swagger.
“I think we did a great job following the game plan the last games, and that’s something I was frustrated with the first half of the year,” said coach Tom Espinosa. “Guys are stepping up, and we’re doing the little things as a team, making winning plays. I like the direction this team is headed.”
Mouhamed Dioubate and Darryl Simmons, key members of last year’s national championship team, strapped their team on their collective backs this week. Dioubate had 24 points and 10 rebounds against OSL, then followed up with 21 points and 16 boards against Cushing, taking over down the stretch. Simmons meanwhile went for 16 points, seven assists, six rebounds, one steal, one blocked shot, and one charge drawn in the first game, then came back to post 12 points and 10 assists in win No. 2. The Mustangs are now 17-3.
“We all know it’s time to step up and do what we’re all capable of doing,” Simmons said. “Guys played real hard and we got two good wins. This is what we expect to do. I think it helps us going forward because we beat two good teams. But we know we’re good too.”
Will Lovings-Watts had 16 points and four steals against OSL, while Oswin Erhunmwunse just missed out on a double-double, ending with 10 points and nine rebounds, and Baye Ndongo had 10 points and eight rebounds in his season debut.
“We got a lot of good contributions from everyone,” Espinosa said. “Darryl played great, Mo was his normal self, Miles (Rose, eight points and five rebounds) was really good. It came from everybody. Duane (Thompson) was in there digging out rebounds, Ty (Foster) only played maybe five minutes, but he was making the right plays and working hard. That was a good team win against a team and a program that we have a lot of respect for.”
The Lions, who feature players headed to UConn, Memphis, George Washington, and St. Peter’s in the fall, staged a late comeback that brought them from down 19 to down seven in just a matter of minutes. But the Mustangs withstood the rally and put away the win.
“That’s Putnam Science basketball,” Espinosa said. “That’s the way we want to play. We’ve had trouble with our toughness throughout the year, but I thought the kids really played hard, really got after it tonight. If we play like that in every game, we’ll be tough to beat.”
They certainly were Sunday. After falling behind 12-2, PSA went on a 15-2 run to take its first lead of the game and never look back. The game stayed close throughout, the margin was always right around eight points, until the Mustangs put the final daggers in over the last three-plus minutes.
It won’t get easier this coming weekend either, as the Mustangs will play No. 1 Brewster Saturday and face Cushing again Sunday.
PSA’s boys Elite team went 3-0 last week, beating Rectory (80-49), Busche Academy (87-59), and Reason Prep (101-59). Thierry Lokrou had 21 points and six rebounds against Rectory, and 25 points against Reason Prep. Yhali Steinhauer scored 16 of his game-high 23 points in the first half leading PSA to the win over Busche.
The boys Varsity team won its lone game of the week, knocking off St. Thomas More 48-31 behind 17 points and 15 rebounds from Max Shepel. Shane Sebastian-Smalls (11 points, four assists), Martin Polyhuych (12 rebounds), and Hugo Bolumar (10 points) also played well in the win.
Stephen Nalbandian
Sports Information Director
Putnam Science Academy
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